This blog is about family, including those in my family tree, the primary focus, but also the family of faith, the family of community, and ultimately the family of man. It is a journey of discovery: Who they were, What they did (and Why), and When, Where, and How they lived.

Around the beginning of the Iranian new year, changes in the White House political pyramid started creating severe concerns within the regime ruling Iran. It began with the dismissal of former United States secretary of state Rex Tillerson and his replacement with former CIA Director Mike Pompeo who is very much aligned with the political views of US President Donald Trump. Tehran’s concerns increased when former US ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton was appointed as Trump’s National Security Advisor. He is known to have had transparent and strong views against Iran’s destabilizing activities in the Middle East.

Report: The populist challenge to liberal democracy
Liberals are anti-tribal, cherishing particular identities while subordinating them to broader conceptions of civic and even human solidarity. But citizens often crave more unity and solidarity than liberal life typically offers, and community can be a satisfying alternative to the burdens of individual responsibility. Preferring those who are most like us goes with the grain of our sentiments more than does a wider, more abstract concept of equal citizenship or humanity. So does the tendency to impute good motives to our friends and malign intent to our foes. Antipathy has its satisfactions, and conflict, like love, can make us feel more fully alive. The appeal of populism—with its embrace of tribalism, its Manichean outlook, and the constant conflict it entails—is deeply rooted in the enduring incompleteness of life in liberal societies. This vulnerability helps explain why, in just twenty-five years, the partisans of liberal democracy have moved from triumphalism to near despair. But neither sentiment is warranted. Liberal democracy is not the end of history; nothing is. Everything human beings make is subject to erosion and contingency. Liberal democracy is fragile, constantly threatened, always in need of repair.

North and South Korea’s 68 year old war will soon end in what will be a major foreign policy win for President Trump. After decades of failed leadership by US Presidents on the Korean peninsula, Trump’s victory is no small feat.

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from LifeZette (& PoliZette)

Media/News Company in Washington, D. C.

Terrifying Trip: Southwest Has Mid-Air Emergency
One person is dead, seven others injured — 'everyone was freaking out,' said passenger who tried to record his final moments for loved ones. Airline passengers bound for Dallas, Texas, from New York City experienced a terrifying flight Tuesday after an engine on a Southwest jet reportedly exploded mid-air. One person was killed and seven others were injured — while a female passenger was reportedly “partially sucked out” of the Boeing 373’s window, as multiple outlets reported.

Leonard Pitts Jr.: Starbucks isn’t the problem, America is
I don’t drink coffee, so I can’t boycott Starbucks. But I wouldn’t if I could. Yes, I understand — and share — the national anger over viral video of last week’s arrest of two African-American men at one of the company’s Philadelphia stores. The men, who have yet to be identified, were reportedly doing nothing more threatening than waiting quietly to be joined by a man they were meeting there, having asked to use the restroom and been refused. Their waiting apparently scared the bejeezus out of the manager, who called police. Cellphone video of the incident shows a white guy asking if the men are being arrested because “they were black guys, sitting there.” An officer, attempting facetiousness, says yes.